


and to the earth we return

by Zoadgo



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Avatar the Last Airbender AU, Canon ish events, Gen, Murphy POV, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-08-20
Packaged: 2018-04-11 01:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4415441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zoadgo/pseuds/Zoadgo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>97 years ago, a clan of Airbenders was exiled from Earth, made to leave because they were seen to be too emotional to be trusted with their powers. They took to space and set up their own society on the Ark, a place where Air and Waterbenders are loved, Earthbenders are ignored, and Firebenders are hated and feared. Now, the teenage delinquents in the Skybox are being sent back to the Earth, to see if the banishment has ended, or if the people who exiled them in the first place have died. When Murphy and the others land on Earth, they find that although they may not be banished anymore, Earth may not be what they remember.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_“You weren’t even sick. Your father died getting you medicine when it was just your corruption showing itself.”_

_“You can never contribute to society, not being what you are.”_

_“I wish you would show off in public, then you’d get locked up like the criminal that you are.”_

_“You could kill us all, I hope you know that.”_

_“You killed your father.”_

Murphy jolts awake, his mother’s mocking voice fading along with the dreams, quickly, but not nearly fast enough for his liking. He sits up with a groan and pats out the embers on his smoldering sheets until the marks his sleeping hands left look no fresher than the rest of the burns on his bedding. He was already kept in a solitary cell “for safety”, if they knew he was Firebending in his sleep again they would take away what little social interaction he was allowed.

He debates trying to get back to sleep, even if the less than pleasant memories will surely be waiting for him once more, but the lights flicker on even as he contemplates it, indicating the Skybox’s “day” cycle has begun. Murphy grumbles to himself as he climbs out of his cot, remaking the sheets to be as presentable as possible given the fact that they’re more than half scorched now. He hopes they’ll give him new ones soon, but he knows they probably won’t. No sense wasting resources on someone like him, when they could go to more useful people.

“Prisoner 257, stand and face the wall.” The voice is muffled through his door, but it sounds just like every guard who has ever been assigned to him. They’re probably not carbon copied clones, but they’re all close enough to just be “The Guard” to Murphy. 

Murphy does as instructed without pause, despite the slight crease of confusion between his eyebrows. Grumbling commands through the door is par for the course, but that specific order isn’t what he usually hears first thing in the morning. The routine is for him to be instructed to put his hands through the slot in the door to be handcuffed, to which he obliges with a sarcastic remark, and then for them to take him and the other Firebenders off to breakfast.The routine never changes, not so long as Murphy stays within the boundaries of “sarcasm” and doesn’t pass into “belligerence.”

The door behind him opens after a moment, and more heavy boots than Murphy was expecting thump into his cell. He doesn’t turn around, habit of obeying keeping him in place even though he can now hear an unusual amount of clamour coming from the hall outside.

“Hold out your arm.” 

“Nice of you guys to ask, I appreciate it.” Murphy does risk a glance as he extends one of his arms towards the voice, counting three carbon-copy-esque guards, two by the door and one bringing what seems to be a combination between a bracelet and a torture device to his outstretched wrist. He almost pulls his arm back, but although the sarcasm in his voice may have passed without more notice than a grunt from the guard, he doesn’t want to risk any sudden movements. Having the air sucked out of your lungs is not an experience he wants to repeat. For a fourth time.

The wristband clicks home around his arm, the spikes feeling exactly as uncomfortable as he thought they would. Threats of blocking his Bending ability, taunts thrown at him by other delinquents and less scrupulous guards come rushing back to him, along with a wave of nausea. He sure as shit doesn’t like being a Firebender, considering it basically cost him his life, but if that was taken away from him, he would have truly lost everything. As much as he hates the sparks he can produce sometimes, they’ve become so much a defining part of him that he’s never even wished for a second that those threats could be followed through on.

But before he can draw in a shaky breath to begin questioning the men in the cell with him, he finds his arms being positioned behind his back. The cool steel of handcuffs locks into place around his skin, slightly higher up than usual due to his new accessory. The familiar restraints just slightly out of place is unsettling, and the sight that greets him when he’s pushed out of the door is even more so.

Delinquents. All of them, it seems like, being herded out of their cells. Water, Air, and Earthbenders stumble along in confusion, following the inmate in front of them along the open hallways. A few of the younger ones hold hands for comfort. Clearly, even the privileged haven’t been told what’s going on.

The guard pushes Murphy’s shoulder in order to turn him in the same direction the others are heading, having apparently exhausted his vocabulary in the two orders he gave him. Murphy moves at the slightest touch, knowing that being nudged off balance with your hands cuffed behind your back rarely ends with a graceful recovery. None of the Firebenders would be seeking comfort in clasping hands with their fellow comrades, the risk of free movement is too great for them.

“What’s happening?” Murphy hears a small feminine voice from behind him pipe up over the general clamour of roughly one hundred teenagers being moved. There are only so many Firebenders, recognizing them by voice is easy for any who has spent any reasonable amount of time in their section of cells. Murphy can’t really fault Charlotte for asking the question, 12 years old is far too young to have the same fear and hatred of the guards that he and the others do.

Of course none of the guard answer her, but he hears one of the other girls hushing her and whispering general soothing phrases. “It’s going to be alright” fails to impress Murphy, especially when accompanied by the uncertain wavering of Fox’s voice, but Charlotte doesn’t speak up again, so it must have worked on its intended target.

Murphy jogs slightly to catch up with the two tall figures in front of him, flanked by guards. His own escort doesn’t say anything, not even a grumbled warning, which is even more unusual. Normally they would have been certain he was trying to escape, and he would have been thrown back in his cell with half oxygen for running. He shrugs off the unease and pushes his way in between the two to situate himself next to the only person he’s ever consider a friend, and the only person he’s too intimidated by to call an enemy.

“M, do you know what’s happening?” He questions his friend, with a nod of greeting for Dax, who glares darkly at Murphy before glancing at the guards surrounding them and shaking his head ruefully. Murphy doesn’t dwell on what Dax might have done to Murphy for shouldering him aside if there were fewer Airbenders with guns around, or if he’d had his hands free.

“‘m not even sure the guards know.” Mbege’s reply is a quiet grumble, accompanied by a nervous glance at the one just in front of his left shoulder. “Heard them talking about cleaning out the cells, though. Maybe they’re floating us all?”

“Wouldn’t put it past them.” Dax snorts in derision, throwing a glare at the guard to his right. “If they had a pair of balls between a whole squad, they’d all least have the decency to kill us proper, rather than letting space do it for them.”

Murphy shakes his head, once again surprised at the lack of reaction from the men around them. Normally they’d look for reasons to harass the Firebenders, but today the delinquents seem to have all been given carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want. He shifts his arms a little, trying to get circulation back into his fingertips, and winces as the wristband bumps against his back.

“If so, we’ll all be the most stylish corpsicles, I guess. I see you guys got bracelets too?” A quick glance at all the delinquents that Murphy can see shows a silver glint on every other wrist.

The other two grunt, but then Murphy is pulled back by his shoulder as Dax is pushed forward, the guard rearranging them into a single file line and cutting off their conversation. A million and one questions beg to be asked as they’re herded down flights of stairs, but all Murphy can do is focus on not tripping. If they are going to be floated, or something else, he at least wants to go out with dignity. Falling on your face before the airlock is not very classy.

The line slows as they enter a room, the lines of other Benders becoming visible again and merging with theirs. Murphy knows none of the others, save by reputation. He ignores the people to either side of him, which isn’t hard as he sees their destination.

A dropship. Sure, it’s rusted and looks more like a pile of junk than the pictures they’d seen in history videos, and there are a few panels that look like they’re held on by prayers rather than any form of actual attachment, but it is definitely a dropship. And that can only mean one thing, a conclusion that passes through the crowd of children as they all take steps toward their future.

_Earth._

They’re all going to be sent to Earth, to the planet which they were never supposed to return to, on pain of extermination. Returning to the land where they were cast out for being too emotional. Murphy doesn’t quite share the excitement of some of the others around him. The first steps he takes into the giant metal contraption feel much like he’s walking into the airlock, and there’s no going back.

Guards roughly shove children into seats, one carrying in an unconscious blonde girl to the second level and treating her with far more care than any of the others. Murphy vaguely remembers having seen her around, and then he sees the boy at her side and remembers with a surge of rage. She must be Clarke Griffin, which really doesn’t matter to him, because the boy is Wells Jaha, son of the man who ruined his life. If it weren’t for the handcuffs, Murphy might have been tempted to attempt throwing a clumsy fireball at him, nevermind the fact that all he’s ever successfully produced is sparks.

The handcuffs remain firmly in place on all of the Firebenders, though, even as they’re strapped into their respective seats. Murphy can’t quite shake the feeling of impending doom, knowing a drop to Earth in this thing is probably less than certain to be survived. But then, as the last of the delinquents is seated and secured, all the guard save for one young man do something unexpected. They leave.

Suddenly, surviving the drop seems a lot more exciting. If they live to end up on Earth, with no guard, there will be no one to lock him up at night, no one to restrain his hands in fear of flames. Although the others would probably still fear him for what he is, Murphy would finally be free to exercise the power he was born with.

The door closes, and a series of mechanical noises fill the suddenly silent room. There’s nothing but pneumatic hisses and grinding gears for a minute that seems to stretch beyond the laws of time. And then, as the mechanical silence seems to be all that will happen, there’s a short burst of force that rocks them all in their seats. After which Murphy is glad for the restraints, because floating around the dropship in zero G while handcuffed is not something he would like to try.

Whispers start, hushed as if there’s still a chance of the guard telling them to quiet down. But there’s only one guard, sitting by the door and glancing anxiously at the ladder to the room above them, and Murphy doubts he’s going to try and impose order on them. The dropship jolts roughly, accompanied by a few squeals from nervous delinquents, and then a brief click of static passes over monitors he hadn’t noticed before.

“Prisoners of the Ark, hear me now. You’ve been given a second chance.” Chancellor Jaha’s face appears on the screen, and Murphy glares at it, as if he could light the man on fire through his recorded image. “And as your Chancellor, I hope you will see this as not just a chance for you, but a chance for all of us. We hope that the exile once placed upon our people has been lifted in time, or that those who banished us have faded from memory. You will discover if the planet we once lived on holds a place for us now. We do not know what will be waiting for you when you land, but you are the only chance for us to discover if our people can go home.”

Shouts and chuckles drift down from the floor above them, as Jaha continues, detailing his plan for what the will do when they land. Murphy doesn’t really care about all that. He’s a survivor. Even if all the others get killed off by something, he’s certain he can make it on his own.

The murmurs around him shift to excited tones. Teens ask each other questions that none of them could possibly know the answer to. What will the people be like? Are there still great cities? Will they be welcomed, or will they be attacked? Why is the Ark sending prisoners, children, as what is essentially ambassadors? Murphy snorts at the foolishness of asking pointless questions.

Then there’s another jolt, more violent, followed by screams from the upper level and alarms blaring. All of the Firebenders wince and roll their shoulders in pain when the dropship finally ceases rattling, and then everything just stops. Save for the groaning of bruised children and the aftermath of whatever happened upstairs, there’s no noise. No machinery humming, even the alarm seems to have been beaten into silence by their landing. Murphy decides he doesn’t much care for silence.

Clicks are heard throughout the dropship in near unison as the locks holding their restraints in place release. Delinquents scramble to their feet and crowd towards the dropship door, completely ignoring the Firebenders who are struggling upright without the help of their still restrained hands. Murphy keeps his eye on the guard as a sea of people seperates them, knowing he probably has the key. He notices Dax out of the corner of his eye, attention fixed on the same person, but his looking far less like he’s going to ask nicely for the key. Dax had never been one to ask when he could just take.

“Hey, just back it up, guys.” The guard waves his hands at the crowd of people that grows as more clamber down the ladder from the second level, turning toward the handle by the door. Murphy has never once in his many years of incarceration heard a guard call the delinquents “guys”.

“Stop.” A commanding voice draws Murphy’s attention for a second to Clarke, climbing down and looking far less peaceful and sweet than she had when she was unconscious. “The air could be toxic.”

“If the air’s toxic, we’re all dead anyway.” _Except the Airbenders, for as long as they have the energy_ , Murphy thinks bitterly at the guard’s response, which once again is not very guard like.

“Bellamy?” Another voice joins the conversation, and Murphy glares at the brunette who adds to the delay to his relative freedom as her comment draws the guard’s attention and causes him to turn away from the lever to open the door _again_.

She pushes her way through the crowd, an act that Murphy envies her for simply because she can do it without fear of being knocked off balance. When she reaches the guard, Bellamy, she hugs him, and Murphy wonders if someone was really stupid enough to hide on the dropship and impersonate a guard for their girlfriend.

“That’s Octavia Blake, the girl they hid under the floors!” The shouted comment that makes the girl turn in anger on the crowd makes the situation far more interesting. A touching sibling reunion, huh? Well, Murphy would be far less annoyed by it if the doors were open and he could move his hands.

Bellamy calms Octavia in hushed tones, and she turns toward the door with excitement. Bellamy’s hand raises to the level again, and Murphy half expects another woman to show up and interrupt the process. But he wraps his fingers around it, and with a pull, Bellamy drops the lever into the “open” position, and the door begins to descend. It hits the ground with a dull thud, and blinding light dazzles all of their eyes for a moment.

When they clear, the delinquents all find themselves squinting at a forest of vibrant greens. They stare out at what was once their home, and Octavia takes a hesitant step off of the metal and onto earth. One shouted “We’re back, bitches!” later, and even the Firebenders rush heedlessly out of the dropship, excitement and energy making them forget their restraints for a few blissful moments in which they hoot and cheer with the rest of them.

They were finally free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! So, this is going to branch off from the canon now, slightly, and then a whole hell of a lot. In case you can't tell from this, I'm not really familiar with the "rules" of elemental bending, so don't judge me for that. This was all started by an ask from [doctor-sherwood](http://doctor-sherwood.tumblr.com/) on tumblr, and then a request from [thislittlebadwolf](http://thislittlebadwolf.tumblr.com) so if you enjoy this you have those two to thank, in addition to my lovely editor [coldsaturn](http://coldsaturn.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Come chat with me [on tumblr](http://furiosawiththecurl.tumblr.com), and as always, thanks in advance for commenting/viewing/leaving kudos


	2. Chapter 2

The excitement of being on Earth is intoxicating, and for a moment Murphy forgets the past. He hollers at the top of his lungs, shoving Mbege’s shoulder with his own and even exchanging broad grins with Dax. They race, heedless of their still bound hands, leaping over uneven ground and delighting in the springy feel of moss and grass and dirt beneath their feet, so different from the dull plains of metal they’re used to.

The few moments of true, pure bliss are much too short lived, however. The killing blow to their lives of joy comes as a small “Ouch” from slightly behind them. A quick glance is all it takes to see Charlotte on the ground, Fox kneeling next to her and asking if she’s okay. Even as Charlotte nods and begins to push herself to her feet, the weight of cuffs returns to the forefront of Murphy’s mind, and he hears a slight huff of air akin to a growl from Dax. Mbege stops along with them, and the five Firebenders face each other. Murphy has a brief feeling of unpleasant nostalgia, realizing that they all picked the same course through the forest even though all of Earth was open to them, before Fox states the obvious, “We need to get these handcuffs off.” 

Murphy snorts in response, rolling his eyes as Mbege nods his head gravely, as if the idea was something that hadn’t occurred to him. Perhaps it hadn’t, Murphy hadn’t chosen his singular friend for his mind.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Murphy walks past Fox, headed back towards the dropship, as the sarcastic comment leaves his lips. “Maybe that guard guy has the key.”

“You really think he’s going to unlock our cuffs if we promise to be _really_ good?” Dax’s patronizing tone causes Murphy’s upper lip to twitch in annoyance, and he replies without looking back at the older boy.

“If he doesn’t, I’m sure you’ll manage to get the key from him. You’re the most… persuasive of us.” Usually Dax “persuaded” with his fists, but Murphy’s certain that not even having his hands tied would prevent him from violence if he really wanted it.

Murphy doesn’t get to see if his confidence is well placed or not, because the “guard” seems to have disappeared by the time they push their way back to the smoking hunk of metal that had brought them to the ground. If their wrists were free, Charlotte could have easily climbed the wreckage in order to get a better vantage point; but if their wrists were free, she wouldn’t need to in the first place. Murphy sighs in frustration as he scans the faces around him, and Dax genuinely growls this time, pushing his way through the crowd, apparently hell bent on finding the guard that second. 

“What now?” The question comes from Mbege, and Murphy sighs again with slightly less anger.

“We get creative,” he continues to search the milling crowd of delinquents, searching for one that he vaguely remembers, and only because the guards were always talking about what a shame it was that he’d been locked up. Of course they would be upset over a precious Waterbender being taken out of the working population, rationing would only be more strict without his skills being used to purify every last drop of the liquid on the Ark.

Unfortunately, Murphy had never seen the kid, to his knowledge. All he had was the name he had overheard the guards using, and he’s just about to call it out in hopes that someone will turn around, when a snippet of conversation brings it to his ear.

“-Earth, Monty, we’re really on Earth!”

Murphy whirls towards the voice, seeing an overexcited gangly boy clasping the shoulder of a shorter guy with darker skin, who looks no less excited but slightly more controlled than his friend. Murphy nudges Mbege with his elbow and nods at the pair, “Bring them here.” 

Mbege nods and begins to set off, pausing briefly as Murphy throws a quick “And be gentle!” after him. He watches Mbege approach the pair, mumbling something in a deep voice that doesn’t carry above the excited clamour filling the air. The two exchange a look and give Mbege identical shrugs, following as he turns and walks back to Murphy.

“Which one of you is Monty?” Murphy asks as soon as they’re close enough for his voice to reach them without effort. Two pairs of eyebrows quirk in identical expressions of surprise, and Murphy decides that for all of the complexion and stature differences, these two might as well be twins.

“That’d be me. He’s Jasper,” Monty seems confident enough, but Jasper gives him a shaky smile, his eyes flickering at the arms of each of them where they disappear behind their backs. Murphy nods at Jasper briefly, turning his attention to the shorter boy.

“You’re a Waterbender, right?” At his hesitant nod, Murphy smiles a touch, more a twist of his lips rather than anything genuinely warm. “Maybe you can help us, then. You probably saw on Mbege, but they gave us even more wrist accessories than any of the rest of you. I’ve heard that some Waterbenders can pick locks.”

Murphy hadn’t actually heard of anyone doing it, but he’d heard guards blame locks left open on criminal Waterbenders, and he hoped that the dangled challenge might cause Monty to figure out how to do it. Even as he hopes, however, Monty shakes his head slowly. Murphy swallows down the familiar taste of disappointment, trying to figure out if an Earthbender might be able to assist them.

“I can’t pick the lock,” Monty verbalizes the upsetting sentiment that the shake of his head had implied, “but I can get them off of you.”

“We would be very grateful, and our gratitude could be very helpful down here,” Murphy doesn’t mention that none of them except Mbege and Dax have ever managed a stable flame, and that even those two can’t do it reliably. If Monty releases them because he thinks he’s going to have five powerful and frightening Firebenders watching his back, then that’s his own fault for assuming.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Monty brushes off the implied offer of assistance, glancing around for a second before walking a few steps to tear up a handful of moss. He smiles at Murphy with a shrug when he comes back, “I never agreed with locking the Firebenders up and cuffing them, anyway.”

Murphy opens his mouth a little in shock at that cavalier statement, intending to question Monty on it but not finding the right words. He closes it after a moment, squinting at the boy in confusion and suspicion, but he turns around obediently when Monty asks to see his handcuffs. As soon as he does, he regrets it, wishing he had thought to have Monty work on one of the others first so he could see what he was going to do.

Whatever Monty does doesn’t take long. There’s a brief pause, during which the other Firebenders look moderately intrigued, and then Murphy’s wrists start to get cold. really cold. He’s about to turn around to snap at Monty, because getting frostbite due to whatever he’s doing wasn’t part of the agreement, but then there’s a heartbeat of tension on the chain linking his cuffs, and a sharp _snap_ that releases Murphy’s wrists.

Murphy pulls his hands in front of him, rubbing warmth back into his cooled flesh and wincing at how cold the metal is. A few droplets of water form on the chain, traces of frost on the broken metal quickly vanishing. 

“What the hell was that?” Murphy knows he should probably be a little more grateful to the person who just freed him, but shock always managed to kill whatever small trace of manners he had left.

“Metal becomes more brittle when the temperature drops.” 

It’s Jasper who answers him, and Murphy shoots him a glare, trying to understand what the hell that means. He gets halfway to understanding before finding enough to be upset at in the fact that Monty had been freezing the metal.

“You could have frozen my hands, and in case you haven’t noticed, there’s no doctors down here,” Murphy continues to rub his wrists, and Monty and Jasper look genuinely confused by his protest. He bears their looks for a few seconds before snapping at them, “What?”

“Dude, you’re a Firebender. Can cold even hurt you?” Jasper earns himself another glare from Murphy, but then Murphy shakes his head and sniffs, running the back of one of his almost warm hands under his nose roughly. He buries his frustration with them deep, because he honestly doesn’t know if immunity to cold is supposed to be a Firebender trait that he’s too weak to have, and he needs them to think he’s powerful at least until they release the others.

“Whatever. Just get them, too.” 

Monty goes to walk past Murphy to Mbege, and Murphy stops him with a hand on his chest, curling his lips into a smile that doesn’t hide the threat in his eyes, “And know that my gratitude only goes so far if you hurt them.”

He drops his hand after Monty nods, interested to actually see what the boy had done to Murphy’s cuffs. Mbege turns around after Murphy answers his glance with a nod, and Monty begins to move his hand over the clump of moss in his hand. It only takes a second before there’s an incredibly small ball of water hovering above a now dead patch of the plant, and Monty redirects it onto the links holding Mbege’s wrists together. With a few more gestures, the water becomes a skin over the metal, and then begins to crystallize. Frost forms under Monty’s direction as Mbege twitches his fingers in discomfort. It doesn’t take long before Monty gestures once with the hand that’s holding the moss, a sharp and bold movement compared to the fluid motion of his other hand, and the metal snaps.

Mbege mumbles a “Thanks” to Monty, and Monty nods before going over to Charlotte and Fox, and repeating the process. In far less time than Murphy had thought it would take, Monty tosses the completely dessicated patch of moss to the side and smiles at the now freed Firebenders. Murphy considers asking him to wait for Dax, but he’s willing to bet that Dax will figure out his own way to get his restraints off.

Fox and Charlotte move to stand next to Murphy and Mbege as soon as their wrists are free, once again choosing to be a group for no reason other than the fact that they were all locked up on bullshit charges due to what they can Bend. They face Monty and Jasper, and Murphy finds himself at a loss on how to proceed. He should thank them properly, but he also doesn’t want to seem weak, and he had learned at a young age that kindness was often taken to be a flaw.

It’s Monty who breaks the silence between them, clapping his hands together once, “Well then. I want to see what sort of plants are growing around here, so we should head off.”

Murphy nods in response, and Jasper follows Monty, mumbling something under his breath that makes the other boy laugh. Murphy doesn’t care enough to question or follow them. He meant it when he said they would be grateful, but that didn’t mean he was going to try and become friends with them.

“You know that we still have the handcuffs on us, right? Even though our hands aren’t tied, it is annoying,” Fox’s voice prompts Murphy to glance at his wrists, but he just shrugs without looking at her.

“I’m sure someone around here can pick locks the old fashioned way. But at least we can move now,” Murphy smiles, stretching his hands out in front of him for a moment. The whole world is open to them, and there are no more rules or bindings to keep them from taking it. Murphy is curious to see if he can figure out how to do more than create a few sparks on occasion, now that he doesn’t have to hide his abilities and isn’t locked up.

Monty and Jasper don’t even get out of Murphy’s direct line of sight before the opportunity to pay them back comes up, in the form of someone grabbing Jasper and pushing him away from him and the girl next to him. Murphy has already started walking over to back Jasper up, the rest of the Firebenders trailing behind him by force of habit, when he realizes that he would have invited himself into this argument regardless of if he owed Monty and Jasper anything, as the boy pushing Jasper away turns out to be Wells Jaha.

“Woah, hey, hey, hey!” Murphy calls out as they approach, drawing Wells’ attention and causing him to let go of Jasper, “Hands off of him. He’s with us.”

He’s not, of course, but Murphy wants a reason to pick a fight. He desperately wants to punch Wells, and if he were capable of flinging a fireball, he would. He stops a few steps away from Wells and the girl, who he now recognizes and dismisses as Clarke. Monty steps forward and grabs Jasper, bringing him further away from Wells and throwing Murphy a look of gratitude than Murphy answers with the slightest of nods.

“Relax, we’re just trying to figure out where we are.” 

Murphy opens his mouth to make a retort, but someone beats him to it, “We’re on the ground, is that not good enough for you?” 

Bellamy appears out of the crowd, looking as well groomed as he had on the dropship. Murphy assumes he either helped Dax, or Dax hadn’t found him yet.

“We need to find Mount Weather. You heard my father’s message. That has to be our first priority.” 

Murphy is too busy rolling his eyes at that to respond, but Octavia has no such delay in her speech, “Screw your father. What, you think you’re in charge here? You and your little princess.” 

Murphy snorts a laugh at that, enjoying the nickname and filing it for later use. From the way Clarke tenses, he knows it’ll be good in order to piss her off at a later date. Annoying people is one thing Murphy has always been really good at.

“Do you think we care who’s in charge? We need to get to Mount Weather, not because the Chancellor said so, but because the longer we wait, the hungrier we’ll get and the harder this will be. How long do you think we’ll last without those supplies? We’re looking at a twenty mile trek, so if we want to get there before dark, we need to leave. Now.” 

Clarke’s pseudo motivational words fall on unreceptive ears, the gathered delinquents simply staring at her. Murphy is about to tell her exactly where she can shove her twenty mile trek when Bellamy, once again, beats him to the response, causing Murphy to grit his teeth in frustration, “I’ve got a better idea. You two go find it for us. Let the privileged do the hard work for a change,” Bellamy’s words have a more positive response, a few delinquents calling out agreement with him, and even Murphy finds himself nodding.

“You’re not listening. We all need to go,” Wells looks like he’s gearing up for a speech of his own to try and win the delinquents over, and Murphy has had more than enough of that. He steps forward quickly, roughly shoving Wells off balance.

“Look at this, everybody, Chancellor of Earth,” Murphy chuckles at his own joke, and Wells turns to face him.

“You think that’s funny?” Murphy can read the holier-than-thou attitude in every inch of Wells’ stance, the attitude of someone who has never had to use violence to get by and looks down on everyone who has. Murphy feels warmth brushing at his hands, his emotions causing him to feel the urge to Bend, despite his complete lack of knowledge on how to do it properly. His fingers twitch and he shifts a little before deciding to follow the instinctive prompting.

Murphy steps forward, his hands coming up to push Wells back, twisting slightly in their upwards motion. He knows he’s not going to form a fireball or anything impressive on his first attempt at conscious Bending, so he makes sure his ankle is behind Wells’. Worst case scenario, he knocks the guy on his ass.

Murphy does end up physically shoving Wells backwards, but he hears a satisfying crackle and feels a surge of heat in his palms when his hands touch Wells’ shoulders. The familiar smell of singed fabric reaches Murphy’s nose, mingling with an unfamiliar scent. When he glances down at Wells, he sees raw, blistered flesh showing through burns in his jacket, and Murphy feels a sick sense of joy curl through him. He’d managed to do something with his abilities, and he’d managed to hurt a person he despises. But behind that comes a shade of guilt that Murphy refuses to acknowledge as Wells struggles to his feet.

“No, but that was,” Murphy can hear shouts of encouragement from the crowd surrounding him, and he’s relatively certain they’re cheering him on. He smiles as Wells attempts to get into some form of fighting stance, clearly favouring one leg and wincing as his ruined shirt falls into his burns. He beckons Wells, taunting the other boy in an attempt to get him to attack him, followed by a feinted punch that is half an attempt to actually throw fire, and half just to see Wells flinch. He doesn’t just want to hurt Wells for what his father did to him, he wants to make him look like a fool.

Murphy feints again, this time with open palms and curled fingers, and flames lick along the sides of his hands. He’s about to try again, when a mini windstorm kicks up and extinguishes the flames licking up Murphy’s arms. He turns into the wind, which dies down in a moment, revealing an annoyingly pretty boy walking towards him. He stops in front of Murphy, between him and Wells.

“Kid’s only got one leg. Why don’t you wait until it’s a fair fight.” 

Murphy glares at him and takes a step forward, more than willing to fight his way past some overly pretty Airbender, but he waits too long to throw a punch, uncertain if his Firebending abilities will work for him again or if he’ll be stuck fighting a clearly well trained Airbender with his bare fists.

“Hey Spacewalker, rescue me next,” Octavia shamelessly flirts with Wells’ rescuer, and the crowd laughs, defusing the situation. Much as Murphy would love to continue his fight with Wells, he doesn’t want to risk turning the entire group against him, so he takes a moment to suppress his anger and turns away from the group. He grabs Mbege’s arm more forcefully than he probably needs to, dragging his friend with him and away from the group. For the first time, Charlotte and Fox don’t follow.

“When did you learn to do that?” Mbege jerks his chin over his shoulder towards the clearing they just left, not questioning Murphy as to where they’re going or why he’s still holding his arm. Murphy slows his pace slightly, glancing back to ensure they’re out of sight of the rest of the camp, before dropping Mbege’s arm and running a hand through his hair.

“I still don’t know how I did that. I just really wanted to knock that idiot on his ass.” 

“Well, you certainly did that,” Mbege smiles in approval, and Murphy huffs a short laugh.

“Just wish I could do it every time that I want to. You know as well as I do that none of us have any actual idea how to Firebend.” 

They stop walking, still able to hear the distant murmur of excitement, but far enough away for Murphy’s liking, and Mbege just shrugs. Of course, having completely unreliable and untrained abilities wouldn’t bother him. Not much ever did bother Mbege, in the long run, he tended to blow up over small things and then completely forget about them after having worked out his frustrations.

“True. But you didn’t need to Firebend to knock him down, that was just a bonus.” Murphy hums in agreement and they stand there for a few moments in silence before Murphy sniffs and rubs at his nose.

“Well, since my fight with Wells got interrupted, what do you say to a quick fight?” Murphy smacks Mbege’s shoulder lightly but firmly and steps back with a smile, bringing his hands up into an informal and semi-relaxed fighting pose.

Mbege laughs and returns his smile, bringing his own hands up in response, “You know you’ll lose.”

“Probably, but it’ll be good to get some practice when there aren’t any guards to stop us.” 

Mbege had taught Murphy how to throw a punch the first time he saw Murphy fight in one of the semi-regular brawls that broke out in the cafeteria, and they’d taken advantage of those chances to have quick sparring matches. This would be the first time they’d be able to finish a fight, and Murphy was quite confident Mbege’s prediction was going to prove true.

Mbege’s response is a shrug and a fist flying towards Murphy’s face, and then Murphy stops thinking about Firebending at all and focuses solely on not getting his nose broken.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this took way longer than it should have, and I am deeply sorry for that, but I'm not going to promise any better in the future 'cause that would be a lie! I'm hoping that it was worth the wait to see Murphy actually Firebend a little. Next chapter is going to involve breaking further from canon, because you can only have untrained Firebenders running around in a forest for so long before something dramatic happens.
> 
> As always, thanks and love to the amazing [coldsaturn](http://coldsaturn.tumblr.com) for salvaging my work from being a tense hopping piece of junk! Also, check out this killer [edit series](http://sevven-hells.tumblr.com/tagged/the-100-ATLA-au) inspired by this fic, but the lovely [sevven-hells](http://sevven-hells.tumblr.com)!
> 
> Come chat with me [on tumblr](http://jonnmurphy.tumblr.com), and thanks in advance for commenting/viewing/leaving kudos <3


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